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Some questions begin in Scripture, others begin with a novel, a news story, a movie, or an unexpected conversation. This blog follows curiosity wherever it leads—with intellectual rigor, ethical reflection, and a healthy respect for complexity.
My Ph.D. dissertation was completed in the infamous year of the COVID-19 virus that was 2020. As the world emerges from hibernation, I am also finding opportunities to discuss my research in broader contexts. Therefore, I have recorded this podcast, which summarizes my research on the nature of poverty in the Hebrew Bible Psalter. This…
Dr. Lissa Wray Beal, Professor of Old Testament, Providence Seminary, opened this final session with her paper on “Servants of Grace and Horror in Jeremiah 25:1-14.” She read the passage in Jeremiah from a perspective of horror as an aspect of biblical violence. The particular focus of the paper was on viewing Nebuchadnezzar as God’s…
Revd delivered the fifth session keynote address. Dr. Helen Paynter, Director: Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence. Her paper entitled, “I Believe in the Afterlife (of the word),” offered a reminder about the need for humility when working academically to translate and interpret passages of scripture. She appeals to emerging scholars, but her…
This mid-week session of the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence. The session comes with a trigger warning about intense and personal content that includes sexual and physical violence against women and dealing with uncomfortable relationship aggression. This session’s Keynote Speaker, Dr. Johanna Stiebert, Professor of Hebrew Bible, University of Leeds, presented “Virginity,…
Note: CSBV offered a special session specifically to include Majority-World Speakers on the subject of biblical violence. Unfortunately, I was unable to accommodate because I was asleep in my present time zone. Nevertheless, I was disappointed to have missed this session because topics focused on basic human rights and addressing violence-based justice. You can find…
The Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence (CSBV) celebrates just over two years of activity with a conference called “From the Rising to the Setting Sun: Global Perspectives on the Bible and Violence.” CSBV has been very active, even during the global pandemic lockdown, providing an outlet for academics and encouraging stimulating conversations…
This week, we celebrated the Shavu’ot. This Jewish holiday comes seven weeks after Passover. It is a celebration of the harvest and centers on remembering when Moses gave the Torah. The holiday is marked by decorating with flowers and feasting on bread and other delicious food. Shavu’ot, or the Festival of Weeks, is a harvest…
When I first launched this blog, the world was entering lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic. My partner and I sued up Twelve Monkeys, the tv series streaming on Hulu at the time. Viewing sci-fi as a biblical scholar has me thinking about many religious themes like salvation, apocalyptic hope, science, humanism, love, death and rebirth,…
33 days after the Passover, the Jewish holiday Lag Ba’Omer marks halfway to Shavuot. This Jewish holiday takes the form of a celebration by bonfire, featuring s’mores, outdoor games, and campfire songs (about fire). Admittedly, this Jewish holiday was not on my radar at all when I subscribed to this year of Jewish holidays in…
Read or Listen Seventy years ago, C. S. Lewis invited readers to explore the fantasy land of Narnia in a book series called The Chronicles of Narnia. The adventure began with a classic story of great good, in the form of love and sacrifice, overcoming a malicious evil in The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe.…